Hurray for History!

Math and science is certainly the focus for educators with a new law upping the number of math and science credits needed to graduate from high school and a huge investment from the state to create math, science, engineering and technology academies across Texas, but Texans still consider it crucial for students to learn about history.

Last weekend, 28 students from San Antonio won top honors at the 28th Annual Texas History Day, a statewide history fair held at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and the University of Texas at Austin for students in grades six through 12.

By placing first or second, 11 of those students will advance to the national history fair in June. San Antonio-area winning students hailed from Health Careers High School, Jay High School, Boerne Middle School-North, La Vernia Junior High School and Earl Rudder Middle School.

Thirty thousand students competed at the local level across the state and nearly 1,000 competed in Austin. Students presented exhibits, performances, documentaries, interpretive websites and historical essays all centered on this year’s theme: “Conflict and Compromise in History.”